Larry Mize reveals how *not* to prepare for the Masters, what TV doesn’t show you and more

Earlier this year, 1987 Masters champ Larry Mize revealed that the 2023 edition of the tournament will be his last.

The Masters famously offers a lifetime exemption to its champions, and after playing Augusta National in his 40th consecutive Masters in April, the 64-year-old said he will call it a career.

Mize’s win in 1987 was his lone major championship, though he won a total of four PGA Tour events over the course of his career, and once on the PGA Tour Champions.

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His win at Augusta came in dramatic fashion, when he chipped in from 140 feet on the par-4 11th during a playoff to defeat Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros.

It goes without saying that Mize has acquired plenty of knowledge about Augusta National over the decades, and he recently shared some of his insider’s insight with GOLF.com.

Masters prep

“Don’t kill yourself in preparation,” Mize said. “It’s real easy — I’ve seen guys go play 36-hole practice rounds. I’ve seen them prepare so hard that they don’t have as much energy once the tournament starts. So I’d say, prepare smart. Don’t over-prepare, because it’s very easy to do that.”

Augusta’s allure

“I always like to tell people, you need to go to Augusta. And I don’t like to tell them why, but the thing is, you can’t see the elevation change,” Mize said. “There’s so much elevation change on the golf course that TV can’t see it. Every time I talk to someone who hasn’t been there, they say wow, the elevation. No. 10 is so much downhill, 18 is so much uphill, so I think that’s the thing. If you get the chance, everybody needs a chance to go there. It’s just that special of a place.”

Noticeable course changes

“The biggest thing is the length,” Mize said. “They do a great job, the greens are very similar to what they have been. They’ll tweak them a little bit to make them better for more pin placements. But the biggest thing is the length, moving the tees back. These young pros hit it so far, they’ve needed to. They’ve done a good job keeping up with technology.”

For more from Mize, check out his full chat with GOLF’s Claire Rogers in the video above.

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As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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